Part II - Chapter 6
"Technique - Muting"
Hi everybody! First of all, my apologies for posting this article so late... but I've been terribly busy over the last couple of weeks, and I will be the next few weeks, unfortunately. With the little free time I had left, I managed to work on one more UGG article to keep you guys busy!
Second of all: Surprise! Well, this new article is actually kind of a surprise... Because we were supposed to be starting with the Intermediate section this time! But why aren't we then? Well, because one reader commented last time that I should make a lesson on muting strings to prevent unwanted noise... And after thinking about this, I realised that we simply can't move on to the Intermediate chapters before I teach you how to mute strings properly!
Leaving strings you are not playing unmuted allows them to vibrate openly, resulting in annoying background noise... This is especially a problem when playing with lots of distortion, which makes the noise even louder and more annoying! Therefore, muting the strings you aren't playing at the moment at all times is a vital skill in guitar playing. It determines the difference between "clean" and "sloppy" playing, between "good" and "mediocre" technique, between "Novice" and "Intermediate" players... That's why I'm including this extra chapter in the Novice section!
To mute unwanted strings while playing, you need both your left and your right hand. Each hand can be used in a specific manner to mute strings that aren't used, so that they aren't allowed to vibrate freely... So, we are going to discuss the technique of the 2 hands separately today:
01.Left hand: used for muting the high strings!
02.Right hand: used for muting the low strings!
So, this article is going to be pretty easy and straightforward... But that doesn't mean the technique in question is easy to master! So, let's get going!
Left Hand Muting
We will start off with the left hand, because the technique is slightly easier to understand and to master than the right hand technique. Like I said already, the left hand is used to mute the high strings... More specifically, all the strings that are higher than the string you are playing on! The left hand can also be used to mute the low strings, but this technique is rather unimportant, as the muting of the lower strings is based primarily on the right hand. I will discuss both techniques in this section, though...
A. Muting high strings
The left hand is used to mute all the strings that are higher than the string you are fretting down. For example, if you are fretting down on the 4th string, the left hand mutes the 1st, 2nd and 3rd string... How does that work? The answer is easy: it's all about the index finger!
To explain you properly how the left index finger plays the key role in muting high strings, I will provide some images to demonstrate what I am explaining. So, in a couple of easy steps, here's how to mute unwanted strings using your left index finger!
Let's say, as an example, you're fretting down on the 4th string, in 7th position... So, you're using your index finger to fret down the 4th string at the 7th fret. To mute the strings higher than the 4th string (the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd string), you simply rest your index lightly on top of these 3 strings! It should touch the strings lightly, but not press them down on to the fretboard... It should look like this:
Now, try plucking the strings your index is resting on... Normally you should hear "dead" notes (a short percussive sound, but no real "note"), meaning that you succesfully muted the 3 top strings!
Now, let's say the next note you're going to play is on the 4th string, at the 9th fret. You're in 7th position, so you fret down on the 9th fret with your ring finger... While fretting down with your ring finger, leave your index finger where it is, resting on the top 3 strings! You don't have to keep fretting down the 4th string at the 7th fret with your index finger, just make sure you leave it resting on the strings above the one you are fretting down on. Like this:
Perfect! Like I said, this muting technique is easier than the right hand muting technique... You should be able to master it pretty easily. So, from now on, always pay attention to the position of your left index finger, it should always be resting on the strings above the string you're fretting down at the moment, as shown in the pics above.
B. Muting low strings
The left hand can also be used to mute strings lower than the string you're currently fretting down on. This is only a secondary technique, though, as most of the muting of the low strings is taken care of by the right hand! I will explain it to you in short anyway...
Basically, you use the fingers that are not fretting down on any string at the moment, to reach over the string that is fretted down, to mute the strings below it. An example:
Again, say you are fretting down on the 4th string at the 7th fret with your index finger. Now, your middle and ring fingers are free to be placed over the fretted down 4th string, to rest on the 5th and 6th string! So, by lightly touching these 2 strings, they would be muted... This would look like this:
Note that you need to be careful not to touch the fretted down string as well... You don't want to mute the notes that you DO want to hear!
Let's use the same example again: now, you're fretting down the 4th string at the 9th fret with your ring finger. This leaves your index and middle finger, which are behind the fret you are pressing down on, free to move over all 6 strings, to mute them all at the same time! This is what that would look like:
Like I said, the technique of muting the lower strings with your left hand is only secondary to the right hand muting technique for the low strings... Why? Because it's not always easy for your fingers to reach over to the lower strings without:
Hurting yourself;
Touching the strings that aren't supposed to be muted.This is the case when you are fretting down with 2 or more fingers, which can move your hand in an angle or position in which it's impossible to reach the lowest strings. An example:
The right hand technique is therefore the preferential technique to mute the lower strings, because contrary to the left hand technique, it's "fool-proof": it works in every situation! So, on to the right hand!
Right Hand Muting
The right hand muting technique is, like I said already, slightly harder than the left hand technique... But it's just as important, so pay attention, practice and don't give up!
The left hand could be used to mute both the high and the low strings, but the right hand can only be used to mute the low strings. How does this work? Here's an example to demonstrate how right hand muting works, in a couple of easy steps:
Let's use the same example again: you're fretting down the 4th string at the 7th fret. The 3 top strings are muted by your left index finger... Now, we want to mute the 2 bottom strings. To do this, simply rest the palm of your right hand on the bridge, so that it rests on the bottom 2 strings, and those strings only! Otherwise, you would be "palm muting" the string you're playing on...
Now, suppose the next note you are fretting down on is on the 3rd string. You now need to mute the 4th string with your right hand as well, so you just slide your palm downwards so that it now touches the 4th string as well! You would do the same when the next note you fretted was on the 5th string, only in the other direction (because you would be moving down a string, instead of up!). So, as you are changing strings with your left hand, the right hand follows the movement of your left hand to make sure that all strings that aren't used remain muted!
Here's an image of what the above should look like:
Now, after reading these instructions and seeing this picture, you might all be asking yourself this question: "But isn't this the same as palm muting?"... The answer: yes and no. Yes, you use the palm of your right hand to rest on the bridge and mute the strings, just like palm muting... But also no, because the difference between this and palm muting is: when palm muting, you mute the strings that are actually played on, which gives a chunky rhythm sound. When just muting unused strings, however, you aren't touching the strings you are playing on!
There's a couple of things that makes the right hand muting technique a little more difficult than the left hand technique. Here's why:
If you put too much pressure on the strings you want to mute, your hand would not be free to move around anymore... which means, you would be anchoring. From a previous article, we know that anchoring is not advantageous in every situation... So, you want to avoid pressing down too hard on the strings you are muting! Make sure you touch the strings you want to mute only very lightly... This allows you to move freely over the strings, only gently "brushing" them as you move your right hand up and down!
You have to avoid touching the string you're playing on at all times... Otherwise, you would be palm muting! So, again, you have to make sure your hand is able to move up and down along with the movement of your left hand. So, again, make sure you don't put too much pressure on the strings you're muting! Just lightly touch them, it will be enough to kill all unwanted string noise...
Note: my wordy explanation can be summarized in short by this amazingly helpful video by Freepower: Muting Unwanted Noise... All due respect to this amazing guitarist, who has inspired me to make an article about this all-important technique!
Conclusion
OK! By combining both the muting techniques for the left hand and the right hand which you now learned, you should be able to eliminate any unwanted noise that is making your playing sound sloppy... It takes a lot of practice to master these muting techniques perfectly, so get going already and practice as much as you can!
Unfortunately, due to my 2-week job training starting today (Monday), I don't think I'll be able to post another article for the next 2 weeks... After that, however, we're really moving on to the Intermediate chapters! No, really! So stay tuned for more Ultimate Guide to Guitar goodness!
Cheers!
ZeG
PS: As usual:
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